@Janet and Katy - I have a question. How did you take that leap of putting yourself out there as a professional photographer? How did you get the courage to book a session and charge and order prints and all that? I have been standing at the edge of this chasm between art and business and I can't make myself jump.

Tina, I did it for free for years until I found myself being asked so much that it was taking every moment I had to keep up with it and my other job as well. It started out as being asked to do photographs for a middle aged womens belly dancing group, yes.. you heard me right.. women aged 30-50 in belly dancing outfits wanting portraits in their elaborate costumes. It took half a day to work through everyone and I had already purchased a full backdrop stand so I took all of my lighting equiptment and a solid black backdrop to one of the womens (huge elaborate) homes and posed and shot these women from their best angles. It was from that that those women began to request me to shoot seniors, families and eventually (what I love more then anything..) NEWBORNS. So, in a way.. I was nudged and tugged towards the business aspect of things but thank HEAVENS I was or I may not have the courage to do it either. I am a marketing major so the business part was not as scary for me.

At this point in my life I plan sessions around my regular life tasks. The main reason why I started my photography business is so I could stay home with my first daughter while still keeping somewhat connected to the real world (otherwise I'd live in toddlerdom and babyville most of the time). Now that I have two kiddos, I'm even more grateful that I took the plunge.

To start out with I did many, many free sessions for friends and families. Before too long they referred their friends. Not long after that I started charging a small fee just to get a portfolio built up and to help cover expenses. Once I felt more comfortable with the whole process of shooting, editing, and working with my clients I increased my fees. That's when I started my Facebook business page (though I'm not sure I would recommend that route anymore...my lack of embracing the new Facebook layout where you need to pay for your followers to see your posts has greatly cut down on viewership).

The majority of my business comes to me via word of mouth. So if you have a few happy clients, that can lead to several more. Once you get up and running, you can offer a referral program. That has greatly helped me to reach new clients as well.

I'd love to see some of your work...if you have a place where you've uploaded some of your photos.

Sweet everyone... gonna go like it right now! I don't have a facebook photography page... was thinking of starting one but wasn't sure about it... I don't know how many people would really be interested, nor do I think I would properly maintain it... we'll see. lol! you're more than welcome to friend me on facebook though! I do have a website/blog that I am horrible at updating but will try to get better at maintaining. I dont do too much business... its all freelance... if someone asks me and they aren't a close friend, i have a price and a contract but I don't go market myself.www.jaclynclayton.com

ha Janet that's awesome... I got so excited b/c I saw that you did a session with "the conklins" andad to go peek to see if I knew them! one of my good friends growing up was a Conklin and she had a lot of siblings... not sure how common that name is... but oh well. Cute images, your work is fantastic!

Katie, love your stuff! And I love that you have an etsy shop too... might have to go browse after I (er--my wallet) recoup from DSD weekend! lol!

Tina... I love your pictures, don't sell yourself short. it never hurts to have a price... if someone is willing to pay you, its because they think you're worth it. I do it for fun right now, only b/c I work full time and just can't afford any extra time going to another buisness... but hey, if someone wants to pay me, i'll be glad to take their money! i'm a "$100-shoot-and-burn-photographer" but it's easy to test the waters that way... try it out... if you're interested get some cards printed and give em to your friends, tell em to put in a good word for you.

Tina, lol...feeling a bit silly here. I should have scrolled down a bit and then I would have seen the options. I'll chalk it up to lack of time and two little kiddos wanting things. At any rate, I agree completely with Jaclyn...don't sell yourself short. I love your close-up shots...the focus on the eyes is perfect. Oh, and I'm completely jealous of the gorgeous field of flowers in some of your shots. I would SO love to use that location for sessions with my girls...as well as many of my clients.

Thanks so much Jaclyn. I just checked out your website/blog and wow, congrats on being on the front page of Kolo. Love the shot of the little guy (I'm guessing he's your son...looks like the little guy in your profile picture).

Hey guys, sorry... i've been mia for a couple days... yes Tina, that's what i mean... except i've been getting even lazier... i have them download them directly from my site... i don't even burn cd's anymore... :\ i've found that most like that way, they can just download and store them in their hard drive... it's probably not as pretty or professional... and if I did this as a business I'd probably do something more "official" but works fine for now.

awww, janet thank you! yeah thats my little guy... he's pretty much all i ever take pics of, isn't that the truth with all us moms? lol!

I'm also a shoot and burn photographer. I know there are some photographers out there who frown upon the practice (say that it's killing the profession) but it has worked well for my business. I've found that my clients prefer to have the disk (or in your case Jaclyn, direct access to the photos) vs. being limited to specific packages. Then again, I went into business knowing that I wanted to be an affordable photographer that can help my friends and family regularly capture shots of their special occasions. Though I admit that my business has grown well beyond that initial objective, I doubt that it will ever be the sole income in our household. So, that may be part of the reason why I chose that method of delivering disks vs. having clients purchase prints.

@jaclyn, my kiddos are by far my favorite subjects. If only I had more time to edit the photos taken of them. I guess that's what the winter lull is for.

i think its amazing how so many scrapbookers are photographers. im so glad you asked the question about jumping from it being fun to a career. i have been amatuering photographering for about 13 years, have spent countless money on backdrops and props, have done some pretty good photos.... but i always sem to do it for free. im always worried someone wont like my photos. ive been looking through you guys photos... so good!

My page is Brittany Snook Photography . I haven't done much on there yet (I just started the page in January) and I have a bunch of old senior and family sessions that I need to upload, but hopefully I'll have some more images on there soon. I started off by taking pictures of my niece and cousins while I babysat them, and once I got comfortable with portraits, I started charging for senior sessions and had five seniors my first summer. Haven't really ventured into anything other than natural, outdoor portraits, but my first wedding is next month (and I am SO nervous) and a bunch of my family wants me to do some family photos this summer. I am also a shoot and burn photographer, like Janet, because I want to be an affordable family photographer and I'd like the people in my area to be able to get family pictures from me once or twice a year without shelling out an arm and a leg. There are photographers not too far from me that charge $250 for one family session that lasts like two hours (not including either the photo package or the copyright release). I do it just for the joy of being able to get a great photo and capture what I can, and I wouldn't mind running around with the kids for the whole day as long as I got a shot that the parents will love and that I can take pride in.

I have both a blog and a Facebook page myself. I'm still working on the blog so it's not public yet but I'll post it when it's finished. My Facebook page I also just barely started so it doesn't have much on it at the moment. I still have a ton of photos to add to it before I move home in the next few weeks and take a ton of pictures on the road trip!

@Janet Scott-I just "liked" your page and browsed through some of your photos. Hope I'm not asking you to give away your secrets, but how did you get the railings of the bridge to appear to converge in the pic of the family with the girl standing on the suitcase? Was it a special lens?